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An omnichannel strategy: How to maximize the value of digital transformation

With the number of digital channels out there today, consumer purchasing paths are anything but linear. The digital age has created countless ways consumers hear about, research, compare, and (finally) purchase a product or service.

But with an increasing number of channels, how can you connect the dots to unify the purchasing path and create a seamless experience? That’s where omnichannel comes in. An omnichannel strategy creates a singular and unified experience for your consumer no matter what their purchase path looks like.

If you’re looking to fully maximize the value of your digital transformation, look no further. Following these four steps will have you well on your way to a successful omnichannel strategy.

Create consumer identities

Digital transformation gives you access to data about your client’s consumer, allowing you to gain a deeper understanding of their audience. Analyzing consumer data gives you insights into their interests, what they like, what they don’t, and even how they interact with your client’s brand.

This gives agencies valuable information that should be utilized in such a way that benefits both the consumer and the advertiser. By analyzing data from several different channels, you can identify similar patterns among consumers and create various buying personas of your client’s brand. Focusing on these buying personas puts you in the consumer’s shoes and brings clarity to your overall strategy.

Map the ideal journey

Data is a powerful thing. It can always be used and transformed in new ways. Data used to create your client’s brand buying personas can also be used to map the ideal consumer journey, which is important for an omnichannel strategy.

Multiple personas mean varying consumer journeys. There is no “one size fits all” path. Each persona has different needs and pain points which leads to different steps taken along the buyer’s journey. Identifying these needs and pain points creates a more personalized consumer experience and is an opportunity for you to restructure and improve the consumer journey across channels.

Your strategy should be all about the consumer–mapping what their ideal journey might look like puts them at the very center of that strategy.

Keep it consistent

Before technology, the number of channels used to reach consumers was a lot smaller. Traditional advertising consisted of tactics such as billboards, linear TV, and radio. Technology has added countless other channels to that list—think digital, mobile, and social media.

These new channels give your agency even more opportunities to get in front of the consumer, but it’s important to understand that they all connect back to your client’s brand. Consumers today typically engage with a brand through multiple touchpoints before they actually commit to purchasing. Keeping your strategy consistent across all channels is key for true omnichannel success.

Integrate data & measure results

What good is a strategy if there are no benchmark metrics to prove its effectiveness? Measuring your efforts will give your agency further insights into the consumer experience and allow you to fine-tune your strategy.

Integrating your client’s data across channels gives a more holistic view of the consumer journey. And through this holistic view, your agency can pull from each channel to connect the dots, creating an even better experience.

Uniting the path to purchase

Understanding your consumer today is no easy task. Everything has changed from the way we interact with brands, to how we make a purchase. The good news is that technology is a great tool that makes understanding consumers easy at any stage of the journey.

An omnichannel strategy gives you a well-rounded understanding of your client’s consumers while creating a seamless experience for them across all channels.